(Reuters) - Following are details of a Reuters poll of 10
leading climatologists about likely rises in world sea levels
this century:

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Six of the 10 experts contacted by Reuters in the last 10
days stuck to projections by the U.N. Climate Panel that sea
levels will rise by between about 20 and 80 cms by 2100. Four
said gains could be higher because of likely bigger thawing of
Antarctica and Greenland. None thought the IPCC was
exaggerating the risks.

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The IPCC projected that world sea levels would rise by
between 18 and 59 centimeters (7 to 23 inches) this century,
after a rise of 17 cms in the 20th century.

The figures include an increased ice flow observed from
Antarctica and Greenland from 1993-2003, but the report said
that might slow down or speed up and that it was hard to set an
upper bound. If the contribution of Antarctica and Greenland
were to rise in line with temperatures, the upper range for sea
level rise would be 10 to 20 cms higher, it said.

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Experts who say the IPCC report is still the best overview:

Gerald Meehl, U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research
(IPCC coordinating lead author of the chapter on sea levels).

Andrew Weaver, University of Victoria, Canada (IPCC lead
author): "The lower bound should probably be more like 25 cm
and the upper bound closer to a meter if you take everything
into consideration now."

John Moore, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland:

"Most people looking at it are thinking more in terms of a
meter...a model we have based on the observational record of
sea level in the past 150 years predicts 1-2 meters by the end
of this century."

Kim Holmen, Norwegian Polar Institute:

"I think it will be more. The IPCC builds on published
results and the accelerated melting we see in Greenland and
some of the signs in Antarctica indicate that there might be
more rapid flux of glacial ice into the ocean than previously
believed."

Stefan Rahmstorf, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact
Research:

"I think that substantial parts of the scientific community
think that this IPCC range is unfortunately not the full story
and we could have substantially higher rises...It's my view
that more than a meter of sea level rise can't be ruled out."